victoriaenglish
Noun -forming suffix -y Noun -forming suffix -y can be used in this way: We take and adjective and add suffix -y to the taken adjective. Get a load of this: MODEST - modestY (noun) HONEST - honestY (noun) My question is this, is it possible to form nouns with the help of suffix -y if I add this suffix to a NOUN? Could you be so kind to give some examples of NOUN + Y = NOUN? Thank you!
25 jun. 2017 14:24
Antwoorden · 4
2
There are no rules. There are not even any patterns. Here are some random words off the top of my head that consist of a noun followed by -ie or -y, but do not try to draw any rules from them. None of them, however, uses -y in any kind of "noun-forming" way. I think that in these examples, "-y" and "-ie" are actually more like a diminutive; [noun]+y means "connected with [noun] in some way." 1) A "foodie" is a person who is deeply interested in food, cooking, and fine dining; it is the modern word for "gourmet" or "gastronome," which are now old-fashioned. Here, "-ie" is really a diminutive. In the state of Massachusetts, the state police are called are "staties;" a store for buying liquor, formally a "package store," is a "packy;" people who are born, grew up, and live their adult lives in a single town are "townies." 2) A "rocky" path or road is a road that is rough or bumpy. Come to think of it "bumpy" is a noun+y form, meaning "full of bumps." 3) "Itchy" means "having a lot of itches." "Rocky," "bumpy," and "itchy" resemble adding "-ish" to an adjective to make it intentionally loose or vague; "reddish" means somewhat red."
25 juni 2017
2
Unfortunately, you have to learn each word individually. English vocabulary comes from a number of different languages and so there are no overarching principles to the formation of related words. After a while, you can see patterns and this can help you to guess in new cases. In this case, both of these adjectives derive from French.
25 juni 2017
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